Divine Haunting
by Prime627
Summary: There was once a cruise ship on Cybertron called /Divine Light/. That ship was shot down in one of the first lashes on Cybertron leading up to the war, and it went down. A lot of mechs, femmes, and sparklings died, and even though their bodies were buried, did they really leave the ship at all?
1. Chapter 1

Before the war, there was a cruise ship liner called the _Divine Light_. It was all white, all pretty and meant for the richest bots on Cybertron to go on and relax with their families. During the war, it refused to shut down, even when its sister ship, _Novabreak_ , landed permanently on Cybertron's plates. On the _Divine Light_ ship, there was first and second class levels.

First class was at the top, had a large pool to swim in, over three hundred rooms (in each room, there was a projector for movies and news, two large, plush berths, and a personal wash racks with a tub and a sink). First class was closer to the dining area, closer to the public wash racks that had showers, and they had their own spa room where there were oil baths, femmes and mechs waiting patiently with oil, polish, lubricants for creaky joints, and buffers. First class had unlimited access to High Grade, unlimited times they could summon a mech or femme to fetch anything. They also had the ability to comm for bought pleasures, femmes that would be booked for max three hours for the buyer's pleasure.

Second class was in the belly of the ship. Second class had smaller rooms, a single berth, no personal wash racks, limited access to High Grade, a smaller pool to swim in, less than two hundred rooms (often times families got to buddy up in rooms), and were further from the dining hall. They couldn't comm mechs and femmes to fetch them things, they were only allowed in the spa every other hour, and they could not order bought pleasures. Second class was often forgotten during drills, role call, and emergencies. That was always the case, and it would be the case the day a Seeker armada shot _Divine Light_ out of the sky.

Lief was a sweetspark, even at a thousand years old. She was only ten feet tall, she was thin, but her Seeker wings were large and very beautiful. She stood out in the crowds alright, but she was second class. Her sire, Ionus Prime, did not make enough credits to afford first class, which was fine by Lief. She just wanted to swim and play with others like her. Her carrier, the once-great flier Firebomb, was less impressed by second class, but she made due, making new friends in the spa and spending more and more time with them. Lief was, like all Seekerlings after a certain age, responsible, honest, and trembling with mischief. She had just bid her sire goodbye, and she was running to the changing rooms. She stripped out of her normal armor, clipped specially designed plates over her chest, around her hips, and between her thighs before skipping towards the pool. Everyone knew her there.

Femmes sat along the edge of the pool with one to three sparklings while they wailed and poked at the water with their pedes and digits. Mechs splashed together, flirted with femmes, or held a sparkling in their arms. Lief felt safe with them, and she dove into the water.

Seekers were designed for flight, and while most Seekers don't especially enjoy getting wet, Lief did. She thought flying through space and air was the same as flying through water, and her wings rotated and flapped just the same as in the air, if not a little bit slower.

She swam through mechs' legs, splashed with femmes and mechs her age, and she was rescued more than once when the filter nearly caught her.

"Easy now," a mech purred as he set her on the side of the pool. "Breathe."

She gagged and coughed, letting him thump his servo hard between her wings. She shook him off and cycled a full intake, exhaling softly and smiling at her. "Thank you!"

"Anytime," he purred. "I hope they fix that. A baby is going to be sucked right in," he said, and he slid into the water, offering his servo to help her. "Where's your daddy?"

"My daddy is Ionus Prime, and he's around. Probably in another meeting, even though he doesn't want to be in one."

The mech smiled and opened his mouth to say something. That was when the explosion ripped through the side. The mech abandoned Lief, who was on the side of the pool and safe, in favor of the femmes and mechlings still floundering in the water. It would be his greatest regret, because before he could reach them, their families had already plucked the tiny things out of the water and were herding them out. He followed them, and while he looked behind him, he didn't see Lief.

She had been trampled, the tiny thing that she was. Nobody saw her, and nobody was in their right processor to look down after they stepped on a squirmy thing that felt so much like the body of a baby.

 _Divine Light_ was a special cruise ship, sentient. It sensed the danger, and before anyone could be swept away outside and into space, it had magnetised its floors, making it impossible for anyone or anything to fly out save the unfortunate menus and napkins and Energon cubes and water, which could all be replaced.

Ionus Prime looked for his baby, his mate clinging to his side when the ship landed safely on Cybertron. The Elites that were onboard ushered everyone they could find out, safely tucking them with families. There were no casualties...until an Elite found Lief's body.

"Oh...oh, no." The femme lifted the sparkling, searching her body for an identifying mark. She felt the sparkling in her own belly jump, and she touched it. "Easy, now..." She would only be on duty for a few more months before she would be seen as unfit, and she felt ready to purge at the sight of the baby in her arms. She reluctantly carried it out, stroking her dented-in helm, her once-pretty wings...the hardest part was finding a family for her, and when she did, she felt terrible.

Ionus was torn apart. He fell to his knees, clutching his child to his chest and crying into her armor. Firebomb wailed, petting her baby's helm and sobbing for her child's return.

"I'm sorry...I'm so so sorry," the Elite whispered. She bit her lip and looked around for the staff of the ship. She found the captain, but Ionus was already crossing the sea of passengers to get to him.

"Look what you did!" He thrusted his baby at the captain. "You could have prevented this!"

"How?" The captain stared at him, his own optics dim. He had lost his mate the same way, death by trampling. He looked down at the sparkling's body. "I am so...sorry."

The Prime fumed, drew back his servo to slap the captain, but a mech jumped in the way.

"Don't be mad at him! I could have saved her...I was right there, but I left her because I thought she was safe...I am so very sorry..."

Ionus' rage melted away and he staggered back, turning around and walking back to his mate. "I want this ship grounded!" He shouted back at the captain. "I don't want to see it in the air anymore!"

And it wasn't. For years, it was stationed on the Sea of Rust, floating in the murky water. Every so often, Ionus would visit. His mate left him, tried to carry another daughter with another mech, but she found out that Lief was her only chance at being a mother, and she died in her sleep. But Ionus lived long thanks to the Matrix, and he visited the _Divine Light_ every year on the day he lost his only daughter. He mated two other times, but they all ended up leaving him. He spent more and more time on _Divine Light_ , having short conversations with the ship.

"Tell me what Lief did the day she was killed."

" _Searching passenger list for_ Lief _. Found: One match. Lief, the daughter of Ionus Prime, was swimming when I was shot down. I did every safety protocol I was programmed to do. I sounded the alarm. I made everything metal stick to the floor. Lief died due to being trampled. Lief died at age thousand and a quarter moments after I sounded the alarm. I am sorry for your loss_."

Ionus would then close his optics. "Is she here?"

" _Scanning ship. Result: One spark signature. It is only you and I._ "

"Can you save a message for me?"

" _Please save your message after the beep._ "

Ionus would take a moment to compose himself every single time. "Lief, this is your daddy speaking..." And he would leave a short message. "You give that to her when she says the word, okay?"

" _Message saved. Password:_ Lief."

Fast forward to the present. Ionus died, the Matrix went to Zeta, the Prime title went to Sentinel, and Optimus came to power. He is Prime currently, Bearer of the Matrix. The war is over, and artifacts must be found and restored to preserve the past, in the words of the current Prime. Bots had tried working on it before, wanting to use it as a combat ship, but everyone who worked on it died mysteriously. _Divine Light_ seemed to enjoy being grounded.

And when _Divine Light_ was found again and brought back online, who could resist a little ghost hunt? More than a quarter of the crew and passengers and more than a couple dozen mechs died in it, and Jazz was a firm believer in ghosts due to many, many horror movies he watched with Prowl.

So Optimus, Jazz, Nemesis, Prowl, Arcee, and Bumblebee walked into the _Divine Light_ , expecting nothing and receiving more than what they could possibly imagine.

Lief was dead, yes. As was the crew, the passengers, the workers. And while _Divine Light_ had scanned the ship, it had scanned for spark signatures. Had it scanned, instead, for heat signatures, well...Ionus would have found not only was his daughter beside him, but countless other spirits were staring at him with hollow optics and gaping mouths as they swayed back and forth.

Optimus turned on his flash light, shone it around, then gave a thumbs-up that was returned. Jazz set up audio devices, Prowl put up sensors that picked up any form of energy and heat, and Nemesis had _Divine Light_ talking again.

"So, _Divine._ What's your story?"

" _I was built in the Silver Age. I was finished eons before the war. I was told to continue cruising during the war. Ionus Prime was in command when the first signs of civil war broke out, the first wave quenched and forgotten long before Sentinel Prime's demise. I was shot down. Several of my passengers died. I was told it was not my fault. I did as I was told. It wasn't my fault._ "

Optimus spoke up. "No one is saying it is your fault, _Divine._ Tell me. Can you see us?"

" _Scanning ship for spark signatures. I have found you. I observe you._ "

"Keep tabs on us, huh?" Nemesis patted a wall, smiling up at a camera. "I see you watching us."

" _Ha-ha,_ " barked electronic laughter. It was genuine for the ship, and Nemesis smiled more. " _I observe you observing me._ "

Jazz peeled a long strip of paint off a railing. "What is this pit here?"

" _The pool for second class._ "

"What's the story about it?"

" _Ionus' favorite place to talk to me._ "

Optimus hopped down into the pool area, splashing lightly into a fresh puddle of water. "Mm. All is well!"

While the others hopped down around him, _Divine_ spoke. " _It was drained after I was grounded. All the bodies were recovered, buried, but there is speculation that I have not fully been cleansed of the dead._ "

"Got some skeletons in the closet, eh?" Jazz walked over to the far corner, the darkest corner. There was a drip of Energon from the edge of the pool trickling down to the bottom. Jazz touched it. It was wet. He shuddered. " _Divine_?"

" _Scanning Energon. Energon belongs to last worker, Bolt. Death: Impact to helm._ "

"What killed him?" Optimus moved to the Energon as well. It looked fresh.

" _Unknown_."

Nemesis stiffened. "Dudes, I'm getting scared now. Can we go?"

" _Exits are located to the left and to the right. I have activated the lights on the floor to guide you._ "

"Shut them down, _Divine,_ " Optimus ordered. "It will just drain your power. Nothing here can hurt us."

 _Divine_ fell silent, and Nemesis whined softly, his whine echoing. He shone his flash light around, as if expecting Bolt to jump down, his helm dented in, his optics hollow black holes, his denta cracked and yellow with age...

"BOO!"

Nemesis screamed and flailed, but it was only Prowl indulging himself. He bore a straight face, though his optics shone with amusement. Nemesis screamed at him. "Don't _do that_!"

"Guys!" Optimus walked to them, silencing them. "Did you hear that?"

Everyone went silent, and Nemesis shrunk back into his brother when the sound echoed to them.

 _La, la, la la, laaaaah..._

" _Divine_?" Jazz squeaked. "Did you develope a sense of humor? _Divine_!?"

" _Scanning ship. No spark signature detected. Conclusion: Wind. I will investigate further if I hear it again._ "

Optimus nodded at the group of mechs, then turned to Arcee, who was kneeling by a puddle of Energon at the edge. "Arcee?"

"Mm?"

"We are going to set up base camp."

"WHAT?!" Nemesis and Jazz shrieked at once.

Optimus soothed them both. "Nothing here can hurt us, and you both said you wanted to get this ship completely checked out. We cannot do so in a single day, and I would rather not shut _Divine_ down. It will take forever to reboot it again, and Primus knows if it will reboot."

Jazz settled down, but Nemesis was still on edge, looking around and whimpering. The group of bots fell asleep to the eerie singing.

 _La, la, la la, laaaah. La, la la la, la, la, laaaahlaaaaah..._

 **So, I love the stories of hauntings on the Queen Mary, and my favorite is when this guy is walking around with a group of buddies, checking out the ship, and as he's walking by the pool, he feels a little hand grip his and he feels sad. Now, I think he returns and performs an EVP where he gets the recordings of a little girl saying she wanted her mommy and an angry "no" when he offered the little girl to call him her uncle. I think he learns that she drowned in the pool of the ship.**

 **The Queen Mary had a similar fate as** _ **Divine**_ **, grounded and not used for much of anything, but the Queen Mary (AKA, the Gray Ghost) wasn't shot down. I actually would like to go there myself, but since I have not, and I only have what I know to go on (which is a lot, if you think about it), there's probably going to be mistakes.**

 **I just really love the stories of the Queen Mary's hauntings. Don't you?**


	2. Chapter 2

Optimus rose first, packed up his thin mattress and blanket, and he started exploring. Alone. Well, not completely alone. _Divine_ spoke to him occasionally, tracking his spark signature with its main computers. " _Divine_?"

" _I am alert._ "

"Are you a female?"

" _I do not understand._ "

Optimus chuckled as he walked, looking into some quarters. He found blankets and pillows to use. "Did your captain refer to you as 'she' or 'he'?"

Sometimes, a ship was specially made for a captain, and the captain could customize it, make it sentient, half-sentient, or not at all. _Divine Light_ was sentient, and it might have chosen its preferred gender.

" _Female. I am a she. Captain let me choose. I liked him very much._ " _Divine_ 's voice took on a more feminine tone, and Optimus decided he liked it. He smiled and lifted his pack, setting it on his shoulders. He looked down the hall and saw a figure standing at the end.

 _Ooooptimus..._ It waved, and Optimus chuckled.

"You can't scare me, Jazz! I do not scare easy!"

 _Ooooptimus, come here..._ The figure turned and walked left. Optimus quickened his pace, rounded the corner and smacked into a wall. "What...?"

" _Dead end,"_ _Divine_ said softly.

"But I saw Jazz walk..." Optimus hesitated. " _Divine_? Where is Jazz?"

" _Scanning ship. Jazz is in the second class pool with Arcee, Bumblebee, Nemesis, Prowl..._ "

Optimus shook his helm, looked right, and froze. A door was creaking shut, and Optimus read the number to _Divine_.

" _Room three-oh-one belonged to: Ionus Prime, Firebomb, and their daughter._ "

He walked to the door. It clicked shut, and he reached for the handle. "What happened to them? Did they make it out?"

" _Searching list of casualties. Ionus Prime: Not listed. Firebomb: Not listed. Lief: Listed. Death by trampling._ "

Optimus twisted the handle and stepped into the room.

 **ooo**

Jazz drank his Energon out of his thermos. He shared it with Prowl, and he looked around. "Where's Prime?"

Nemesis flipped through an old datapad he found, smiling down at the pictures. "Oh...he's probably wandering around. He'll show up."

" _Divine_?" Arcee looked up at the arrays of cameras and speakers above them.

" _Yes_?"

"Where is Optimus?"

" _Scanning ship. Optimus is in the living quarters of Ionus Prime._ "

Nemesis tilted his servos palms-up in a _what did I say?_ shrug, then went back to flipping through pictures. He chuckled.

Arcee stuck her glossa out at him, sipped her Energon. "What's he doin'?"

" _He stands in the middle of the room, his helm tilted back. He regards the ceiling. His optics are pale white. He mumbles. I do not know what he speaks of. I...he has just fallen._ "

Nemesis was off his aft in moments, charging down the halls and ripping doors off of rooms before he found his brother sitting on the berth and flipping through a magazine.

"Ah, Nemesis. Look at this."

He stared at his brother. "Were you...?"

Optimus blinked blue optics up at him, frowning. "Brother?"

"The ship said that you had collapsed after having what sounded like an episode."

"No, no I have just sat down. _Divine_?"

" _Yes?_ "

"Did you tell my brother I had fallen?"

" _Yes. I observed you. I have footage._ "

A holographic display shot up and Nemesis saw...his brother walk in, look around, sit down on the berth, and lift the magazine. At that moment, Nemesis came running in and the footage cut.

Optimus raised an optic ridge at Nemesis. "I think _Divine_ is malfunctioning. As you can see, I am well." He got up, grunting when Nemesis touched a digit to his chest. "Nemesis?"

"Show me." Nemesis glared at him. "Show me you are my brother."

"Nemesis..."

"SHOW ME RIGHT NOW!"

Optimus' optics narrowed and he opened his chamber. A half of a spark pulsed in his chamber, and further back, the Matrix hummed in greeting. Nemesis' optics closed and he collapsed into his brother. "I had to be sure... I'm sorry."

One time, during the war, a mech had pretended to be Optimus Prime. It was an Amalgamo spy, and he was one of the best, but he forgot some details, like the fact that Optimus Prime was a split-spark, and so he had half of a spark, and the fact Optimus bore the Matrix, and so the Matrix had to be seen. Nemesis was the one that wasn't fooled, and he still remembers the cold horror he felt when he didn't see his brother's spark or the Matrix in that imposter he had called his brother for days.

"All is well, my dear brother." Optimus kissed between his optics, took his servo, and led him back to the pool.

Jazz got up. "Aye, Prime. You okay?"

"Yes. It appears _Divine_ had a malfunction. _Divine_?"

" _Yes?_ "

"Scan your systems and report any bugs."

" _Scanning now. Scan complete. Last de-frag: Eighty-six million years ago. I take full responsibility for the confusion. Do you accept my apology?_ "

"We do." Optimus smiled and he looked back at the group of mechs and the femme. "Are we ready to explore?"

 **ooo**

The ship was _huge_. Optimus paired every bot up: Nemesis with himself, Arcee and Bumblebee, Prowl and Jazz. They had to comm in regularily, and it was Jazz's turn to report. Just as he tapped his comm to report that the quarter halls of second class had nothing to report, the door to room 301 swung open and a tiny form of a Seekerling stepped out into the hall and turned her big, black optics to focus on them. Prowl stiffened beside Jazz and they clung to each other while the Seekerling turned her whole body around.

Her mouth moved, her optic ridges lowered, and her voice came to them as if she was underwater or down a long hall, finally reaching them a few kliks too late. "Daddy?"

Jazz fumbled with his comm, his mouth working to form the words _require back-up._

The Seekerling's mouth snapped open, opening more than should have been possible, and the scream deafened the mechs, bringing their servos to their audios and they fell to their knees. When the screaming was over, they opened their optics and blinked at the sobbing sparkling. The sound reached them late, and she lifted her helm.

"I want my daddy..."

Jazz tapped his comm. "Optimus, you gotta hear this." He opened the link, making it public, so that Optimus could hear the soft sobbings of the Seekerling. The others could hear as well, and the excess chatter died down.

"Do you know where my daddy is?"

Prowl knelt down, reached out to her. "Who is your daddy, little one?"

Jazz had to move closer so Optimus and everyone could hear her soft reply. She cried a little louder and she wiped at her optics. "Ionus Prime..."

Prowl cooed gently, patted her helm. His servo went right through her and felt as though he put it in ice water. He shivered. "What's your name, sweetspark?"

She stared at him for a long time, then she cried out. "I-I-I _don't remember_!" She pressed her face into her palms, and before Prowl could ask anything more of her, she faded away.

Optimus was silent for a long time. "Autobots, meet Jazz and Prowl at their location. Jazz and Prowl, remain where you are. _Divine_! Lead us to them."

" _Right away,_ " chirped the ship.

Jazz and Prowl pressed to each other. They didn't move from their kneeling position, didn't look up from where the Seekerling had been.

So when he came charging down the hall, they didn't expect him.

 **ooo**

" _Signal lost. Prowl and Jazz are not found_."

Optimus scowled. "Not found? You were just tracking them!" Nemesis was shaking behind him, swinging his light back and forth. He jumped at everything, and the stunt _Divine_ was pulling wasn't helping

" _Signal lost. I will scan for their spark signatures. Scan complete. I have located: Four sparks."_

He groaned and turned left, the way _Divine_ had pointed him before she lost their signals. "Run a scan for heat."

" _Scanning now. Scan complete. I have located: Five hundred and sixty-three heat signatures and counting._ "

Optimus stopped walking. "What?"

" _Scanning now. Scan complete. I have located: Five hundred and seventy-six heat signatures and counting."_

"Holy frag!" came Arcee's voice across the comm. "Is everyone else hearing this!?"

" _Scanning now. Scan complete. I have located: Six hundred and two heat signatures and counting."_

Optimus walked, picking his pace up and up until he was sprinting down the halls. He tripped over Jazz and Prowl, who were laying unconscious on the floor. Jazz groaned. "I found them," he shouted into the comms. " _Divine_! Stop messing around and show the others the way to me!"

" _Very well._ "

Arcee rounded the corner in front of them, and she knelt. Bumblebee was behind her, and when Optimus turned to check for Nemesis, he stiffened.

His brother was gone.

 **ooo**

Optimus stood over Jazz and Prowl as they came around. Bumblebee and he had carried them down to the second-class pool and they were waiting for _Divine_ to locate Nemesis. She had yet to check back in.

"Ugh...what happened?" Jazz rubbed his helm and frowned. "I feel like I was hit by Astrotrain on drugs."

Prowl laid back down and clutched his helm. "I second that opinon."

Arcee crossed her arms and looked at Optimus. "What is happening, Optimus? Why is this happening?"

The Prime shrugged helplessly and he sighed. He was concerned for his brother, but he knew better than to assume Nemesis was completely helpless and was floundering in the dark against a stray Insectilet litter. He jerked at that thought. What if the heat signatures _Divine_ was picking up were actually Insecticons emerging from stasis?

Prowl mumbled his reply to that. "Possibly, but we would have encountered the hive by now."

"And she would have picked up heart signatures," Jazz sighed. He twitched and groaned, rubbing his helm in a tired way before closing his optics.

Optimus opened his mouth to say something when the signing picked up again.

 _La, la la, la la la, laaaah, la la la, la liiiii..._

" _Divine!_ Scan heat signatures!"

" _Scan complete. I have found: One._ "

A tiny Seekerling stepped into view, her wings fluttering. "Why are you guys in the pool? There's no water, silly."

Optimus smiled gently. He could see the wall through her, but he knew she was real. She would be real for a little bit. "Hello, child. Who are you?"

"I don't know," she said. "Who are you?"

"My name is Optimus Prime."

She scowled. "You can't be Prime! My daddy is Prime! He has the Matrix! So you can't be Prime! Liar!"

The ship shook with her outburst and Optimus struggled to soothe her, but she only bared her denta and screamed like a normal youngling would in a tantrum.

"Easy!" he finally shouted and he sighed, opening his chamber and revealing the Matrix. "See? See, I am Prime."

She stared at the artifact in his chest for a long time before she shook her helm. "No...you can't be Prime...that would mean Daddy is dead..."

"Aren't you dead, lovely?" He moved closer to her, offering a fond smile. "Lovely, are you alive?"

" _Scanning now. Scan complete. I have found: Two heat signatures._ "

Optimus ignored _Divine_. He knelt in front of the femme, who whimpered.

" _He_ says I am." And she pointed at the hall leading to the dining hall.

In the doorway stood a writhing figure of blackness, jagged white denta revealing as he opened his mouth and roared, charging Optimus just as he had charged Jazz and Prowl, but he balked and shrieked when he saw the Matrix, backing up to a safe distance and snarling at the Prime before running down the hall, disappearing in the shadows. Optimus turned back to the femme, but she was gone.

" _Scanning now. Scan complete. I have found: zero heat signatures._ "

Arcee whimpered at the announcement. "Why aren't we being listed?"

Optimus blinked down at her slowly from the edge of the pool. He could feel it now. The Matrix was going crazy, beeping and whirring. Optimus was being surrounded by the dead. "Because we are still alive."

 **I kid you not, this is starting to freak me out. I'm practically peeing myself everytime Mom opens her door (it creaks) and I can feel that surge of adrenaline go straight to my toes. XD This is turning into a Rose Red meets the Gray Ghost. XD Haha!**


	3. Chapter 3

Nemesis hated being alone. He hated the dark, hated how he couldn't see anything past the flashlight beam, hated how _Divine_ was ignoring his requests to scan for Optimus! He hated a lot of things at the moment. And he hated the feeling of being watched. He was feeling it now, but every time he whirled around, there was no one. He heard a creak in the floor and he spun around. Seeing nothing, he turned and nearly had a spark-attack.

"OPTIMUS THE FRAG!?" He threw the flashlight at his brother, staring at him with wide, scared optics. Optimus caught the flashlight and pulled his brother close.

"Thank Primus I found you...come on. The others are worried." He tapped his comm, Arcee's voice floating through.

" _Did you find him?_ "

"I did. Return to the second-class pool. I will arrive soon. Optimus en route."

Nemesis clung to his brother as they walked and he practically squealed when he saw Jazz. He tackled him, buried his face in the familiar mech's neck. "I was so scared I'd never see you guys again!"

Jazz patted his back. "It's fine. You're here now."

Nemesis sighed and looked over at his brother, who was obviously concerned. "Brother?"

"Before I found you, we were visited by a spirit, and I had a disturbing realization. If I ask _Divine_ to scan for heat signatures..."

" _Scanning now. Scan complete. I have found: Six hundred and eighty-nine heat signatures and counting._ "

"She gives me the list of the dead."

Nemesis stared at him for a long time, then snapped his mouth shut. "We need to go to the command room. There will be answers there."

Optimus nodded, and he looked at the rest of the team, who blinked up in scared ways. "Remain here. Nemesis, Prowl and I will return as fast as we can."

Prowl stood, pulling Jazz off him reluctantly. Nemesis led the them through the halls towards the helm of the ship. If Optimus turned his helm either left or right, he would see claw marks on the walls. He shuddered and wished he could make sure he was following his brother and not a demon, but Nemesis stopped cold and stared.

They had reached the helm of the ship. The command center was lit up, as expected, but seated in the captain's chair was...someone. That was unexpected. Optimus walked to the chair and he turned it around.

The body grinned up at him, a hole straight through his jaw and out his helm. A gun laid like a favorite pet in his lap. The body showed little signs of age, since Cybertronians slowly decompose, allowing the spark to be used, recycled. A not-unheard-of way to gain experience without actually gaining it. Optimus opened the body's chamber and sighed down at the spark, pale and cold. On its surface, there was a blemish. Optimus hoped it was just a smudge as he cradled the spark and he guided it to his own to be absorbed.

Nemesis and Prowl made no objections, and before Optimus could warn them of the demon standing behind them, the memories flowed into his core and Optimus was forced to watch.

 _Darkness. A ripple of movement, crushing and pushing. It is rare to see a birth memory, and so Optimus gathered each detail with adhesive optics. There was no one behind him, no one in front of him, and then there was light, screaming...his own screams. Cold servos cradled his body, bathed him, and laid him in a box beside two still ones. Siblings, Optimus realized with a jolt. Still-born Seekers. According to belief, if two were still-born, the third wasn't going to make it, either. That proved false, since the live sparkling turned out to be strong and healthy. Optimus had himself remember that this was a long, long time ago, long before he was even created himself. He doubted he was even conceived._

 _The box was sealed shut, discarded in the rain moments after birth. The sparkling was cold, weak, but he had a voice. He cried for hours, slept uneasily, then woke up sobbing. What was moments to Optimus had to be hours, and then a mech came, shuffling along, clutching himself. He heard the cries and he opened the box, cooing down at the live baby and the dead ones. He closed the box, pulled it to his chest, and turned his back. He shuffled back home instead of going to the bar, which, Optimus remembered hearing as he followed the mech, a fight had broken out in there. Primus was looking out for this mech. He wanted to know why._

 _The old mech set the tiny things on the table, checked the stiffening babies out, then put them back in the box. He stared lovingly down at the now warm and fed sparkling, its belly rounding out with fuel and its optics dimming. "Such a sweet little thing," he breathed, poking it and pushing it around to gaze at it from every angle. The sparkling cooed, and the mech lifted him up and laid him on his chest._

 _Optimus felt strange after that. The spark was fast forwarding, obviously meaning to show him_ something _. Before him, he watched the rapid, jerky movements of the mech and the sparkling as time passed. The sparkling grew up, and the mech grew older. A pilot's helm covering sat on the table when the spark finally stopped speeding through time. The full-grown sparkling fingered the bill of the hat, sighed, and spun the pin on it. Optimus recognized the pin as a gift given to the pilot's family when they...died._

 _A femme walked into the room, threw her arms around him. Squeezed. "I'm sorry about your sire, Slingshot...is there anything I can do?" She was showing the beginning signs of pregnancy, and Optimus walked closer, taking a seat across from the mech._

 _Slingshot shook his helm. "No...all is well. I am thinking about becoming a pilot...a pilot of a cruise ship. I thought that would pay well."_

 _Optimus' digits dug into the table. Was this_ Divine's _captain? Was this the demon? Couldn't be...couldn't be._

 _And then the femme, turning away and starting to walk to the other room, made a choking sound and Optimus watched as her body aborted the baby inside her. Energon splashed down to the floor, spattered up on her legs. Her shoulders dropped and her wings lowered. She sighed and walked to the shower, her servos shaking. Slingshot mopped up the Energon._

 _Optimus whined. Slingshot's mate had to have miscarried before. It must have been frequent, because Optimus strained his audios and only picked up soft sobbings. There was another sound, the sound of three rapid spark pulses. The sparklings they did have were sickly, but Optimus knew they would turn out to be stronger._

 _As soon as he got up, the scene changed and he was watching Slingshot with his femme. His optics widened and he watched him climax, grunting and sighing as he opened her chamber and they pressed their sparks together. Sparking. He was trying to get her sparked. Anyone could spark and carry a sparkling. Anyone. Nemesis had carried a sparked sparkling around as an experiment once. He was very fond of the little blob on his spark, and was very sad when the medics reclaimed it as soon as it was born. Nemesis never saw it again._

 _The scene changed again, and the femme stood with her mate, their sparklings strong and healthy, as Optimus had predicted. He knew there was a time change, but he didn't see any obvious changes with the femme. She didn't cup her spark chamber, didn't reach up and rub it fondly. He assumed that the sparking didn't work (sparking was far from a guarantee)._

 _"I'll be back," he purred. He was wearing his adopted sire's pilot hat, the pin gleaming proudly. Optimus followed the mech onto the ship. It wasn't_ Divine. _It was her "carrier", her ancestor, her inspiration:_ Dawnbreak _._

 _Optimus watched the spark fast forward again, the interior of_ Dawnbreak _shifting to_ Divine _. He sighed at the familiar territory, then hesitated._

 _The mech was leaning against the controls, letting a medic check out his spark._

 _"There's an unusual bulge on it. Have you and your mate ever sparked?"_

 _"Once. It was unsucessful."_

 _"Ah. Well, I'll run some tests, but from what I see, if it's not a sparkling, it looks very bad for you. I know you were abandoned, and that could have made your spark go through trauma, making it eggshaped instead of a ball, and that can lead to...problems."_

 _Slingshot's optics darkened. "Death."_

 _"Yes."_

 _"I recommend staying off your pedes, relaxing. Don't get too stressed out. This often happens to traumatized sparklings. A few mechs and femmes even survive with eggshaped sparks, but they die soon after discovering it. They stress out. Don't stress out."_

 _Slingshot smiled a little, nodded, and waited until the mech was gone before he returned to work, either determined not to stress out or too numb to feel. Optimus wanted to rest a servo on his shoulder to let him know it would all be okay...but he thought back to the body. Eggshaped sparks didn't detonate in the chamber, so the body would have looked like the mech was sleeping, not dead with a hole through his helm. And Optimus remembered the gun. Something else happens. He narrowed his optics._

 _Before his optics, Ionus Prime himself walked into the captain's chamber. "Brother."_

 _Slingshot's helm jerked. "I am not your brother."_

 _Ionus smiled and stroked the mech's helm. "Oh...have I intruded on some deep thought?"_

 _"I'm dying."_

 _"We are all dying."_

 _Slingshot laughed softly, closed his optics and crossed his arms. "What do you want?"_

 _"Firebomb is determined to get some excitement on this ship."_

 _"If you had the credits to afford first class, you would have it."_

 _Ionus laughed, deep and rich. He nudged the smaller mech and sighed. "You know I am a Prime. I'm just a figurehead so the High Council have someone to blame when things go wrong."_

 _"True, true..." He shoved at the mech, hard, but Ionus only grinned down at him. "What do you want me to do about it?"_

 _Ionus tapped some controls, opening a map and pointing. "A new destination."_

 _"A sister world? Ionus, be reasonable..."_

 _"Just for a little bit."_

 _"It's not in my orders. I have direct orders, of which I have to follow if I want my good-paying job."_

 _Ionus shrugged a little, then patted his helm. "Do you have to do to make it exciting. My little Lief is content, but even she can get bored."_

 _Slingshot smiled weakly, a stretched out, worn smile he must have put on a dozen times to hide his pain. "How is little Lief? I can't believe you managed to sire a sparkling, a_ Seekerling _!"_

 _Optimus winced. Slingshot, he realized, needs a reason to die, needs a reason to snuff his own spark._

 _But before Ionus can puff up with pride, his comm chimes. "Good bye, my brother. I will see you soon. The High Council need to speak with me. Urgent stuff." He rolled his optics and he left the room._

 _Slingshot smiled until he left, then he sighed and sat down slowly in his chair, rubbing his chest and opening the chamber. "More and more, little spark, I'm beginning to doubt..." He reached in, poked the little bulge. "This cannot be life threatening..."_

 _Something in his optics hardened and he got up quickly. His mind had been made. His comm bleeped and he opened the message._

"Hello, Slingshot. I am calling for the medic that saw you, Sprocket. He has news for you, said it was urgent that he spoke to you. Comm back as soon as you get this. It's really important."

 _He fell to his knee struts and Optimus, too, was filled with dread. It was bad...it was very bad. Slingshot made a silent wail, then his helm snapped up with an idea, and Optimus felt it as well._

 _He would not die alone._

 _Optimus stood outside of Slingshot's mate's quarters, tried to shut out the sounds as his sparklings sobbed and his mate pleaded, but they died, suffocated under pillows and arranged so they looked like they were sleeping. It was very sad._

 _Then Slingshot sat in his chair, laid back, looked at the gun fondly. His comm chimed, an incoming call instead of a message, and he opened it._

"Slingshot! You aren't dying!"

 _Slingshot froze. Tears welled his optics. "What?"_

"I scanned the bulge and the results came in. It's a sparkling! A sparkling! Can you believe that? You are carrying the sparkling you tried to get your mate to ca-"

 _Slingshot cut the link, stared out the window, and cried out. Then, before he could rethink, he caught the attention of a passing Seeker trine, insulted them, and watched them blow up the side of_ Divine _in revenge. Seekers are reliable in being quick, gentle with their own kind, and quick to anger._

 _After_ Divine _was grounded, Slingshot moped around before taking his own life in the seat of the ship he loved._

Optimus jerked out of the memory, staring at the demon behind his brother and friend. No time had passed, and as he watched, Slingshot, for it was Slingshot, descended on Prowl. "Slingshot, do not do this!"

The mech stopped, looked up at Optimus and stared. His mouth closed and he backed away. Optimus pulled Nemesis and Prowl behind him. The mechs were like zombies due to Slingshot's presence. "Slingshot...do you remember your name now? Slingshot?"

The mech whimpered, lowering himself to his knees and, slowly, touching his chest. His optics dimmed and he curled in on himself, weeping and clawing his chest.

Optimus knelt in front of the mech, reaching out to touch, but the blackness veiling his body prevented the Matrix's pure touch to reach him, prevented Primus to find him and the other spirits trapped on _Divine_.

"MY SHIP," Slingshot roared suddenly and he lunged at Optimus, growling. "GET OFF MY SHIP! IT'S MINE!"

Optimus staggered back, out of reach. He watched the angry mech as he growled and paced, his optics dim with sympathy.

"It's mine...it's all mine. Everything and everyone. Mine, mine, mine..." His helm snapped up and he smiled at Optimus. "You'll be mine, too..." And he lunged at him again.

Optimus ducked, pushed Nemesis and Prowl just as Slingshot ordered _Divine_ to shut the door, and he faced the dark mech wreathed in shadows. "You do not belong here," Optimus breathed. He hoped he could reason with him.

"My family is _gone_. My sparkling is _gone_. It's all _my fault_. Primus punishes me for what I do, and I will continue doing what I do." Collecting souls, making them stay on _Divine_ to make him feel more at home, more at peace...foolproof. Except for one little thing...

"Primus loves all his creations, Dark or not, Light or not."

"LIAR!"

But this time, when Slingshot charged, Optimus grabbed his wrist, pulled him close. The Matrix hated this contact, and it was vocal. The closer the mech got, the more shadows were torn from him. Any closer, and he would be absorbed into Optimus, but the Prime pushed him back before his spark caught on that it could, in fact, absorb the spirit. When Slingshot lifted his helm, he was a ghost. Not a single shadow enveloped him. Primus' optics would turn to them any time now...

Slingshot looked down at his servos and sighed gently, backing into the controls and pressing a button. "I have to do this...give me time..."

Optimus nodded and he felt the Matrix hesitate. It had been chirping to Primus, but now it was quiet. It was just as interested as Optimus was.

A message started playing, and Optimus recognized the deep voice of Ionus. The Matrix recognized its former companion.

" _Lief, this is your daddy. I'm sorry I didn't get to you on time. I hope you're safe and happy where you are, and if you're wandering the ship...tell Slingshot that I said hello..._ "

The message ended, but another was quickly at its heels.

" _Hello, Lief...I'm back again. I, uh...your mother left me...said I wasn't a good sire...and I picked a successor. A tiny, squirmy thing...I know you wanted to pick him, but I did, thinking of you...Oh, Lief..._ "

And another.

" _I'm no longer Prime. Zaros is Prime, and the Matrix went to him. He's Zeta Prime now, and he's already chosen his successor, little Sentinel...Lief, I'm dying. My spark is eggshaped. I faked my death, and I'm living here, in this pool...the pool you died in. I'm so sorry...I'm giving up. I can't...can't take anymore..._ "

Gunshot. Optimus felt cold, and he whined gently as he backed away. Slingshot gripped the controls, sighing gently.

"Do you think...do you think he's here? Ionus?"

Optimus looked around, but the Matrix was in numb horror, so it didn't chime like it would if it sensed a former Prime, but Optimus felt someone press by him. He saw Ionus take up the space beside Slingshot, rest a servo on his shoulder. Slingshot whimpered and leaned into his friend, his brother. Lief skipped in and clung to her sire's servo, and then, one by one, Primus found them and smuggled them home.

" _Divine_! Tell me the heat signatures!"

" _Five hundred and two and dropping. Five hundred and dropping. Four hundred and twenty and dropping. Three hundred and dropping. Two hundred and six and dropping. One hundred and one and dropping. Three and dropping...I have lost all heat signatures_." She was silent for a little while, confused. " _Are they gone?_ "

"You have been cleansed of the dead, _Divine_." He patted her controls. "Power down."

" _Sir?_ "

"Rest now."

She was silent, processing before acknowledging his request. She powered down, and Optimus found his friends in the pool. Arcee stood immediately.

"Prowl and Nemesis walked back with this mech, this huge, huge mech. He had to be a Prime. He said that those two had completed their tasks and that he was going back to finsih his job. Optimus, what happened in there? What were all the messages about?"

Optimus smiled and lifted his shoulders in a shrug. "I have no idea."

Nemesis groaned. "Can we get out of here now? This place gives me the creeps."

Jazz got to his pedes. "What about _Divine_?"

"She will sleep until we are ready to wake her again."

They left rather quickly, although the only dead left was Ionus, as he had yet to merge with the Matrix. When he did, he settled comfortably with the other memories and Optimus' breath hitched at the flow of warm, tender memories. He decided he liked being Prime.

He liked being Prime very much.


End file.
